Only the Khilafah will Ensure the Protection of Women

Islamabad police on 24 July 2021 arrested the parents and household staff of suspect Zahir Jaffer, accused of torturing and brutally killing Noor Mukadam, for "hiding evidence and being complicit in the crime". During a hearing on 23 July 2021, Investigating Officer Abdul Sattar informed the court the alleged killer, Zahir, tortured Noor with a knuckleduster before beheading her in Islamabad’s F-7/4 sector.

Noor Mukadam’s murder is horrific, but it seems the horror is endless, as this is just the latest in a long line of crimes against women in Pakistan. These crimes show a complete lack of respect for women on any level. More than that, they show men who are comfortable with violence, with little fear for the consequences of their actions. These crimes have been endlessly discussed, and those who condemn the attacks and murders seek to place blame in an effort to root out the problem. Some blame men and the patriarchy. Some blame the punishment process, as the Pakistan Ulema Council has done. Others blame legislature and are calling for changes to the law, focusing on the passing of Bills to protect women.

However, to prevent such crimes occurring, we need more than just patchwork solutions. We need to understand the actual cause and deal with that. These horrific crimes did not appear out of a vacuum, but out of ideas within society. Our society today has incorporated many different ideas and laws from Western secularism, as well as from un-Islamic traditions, local to the Indian Subcontinent before the entry of Islam. These are taught in our schools and passed to society through our media and social media. These ideas build individualism and the right to act based on your own desires, undermining the idea of accountability.

We can see in society that these ideas have manifested themselves as crimes against women. Recent figures from the UN and WHO have estimated that one in three women worldwide have faced physical or sexual violence. Clearly, the globally dominant secular system which uses human rights as a criterion for action is not working. Yet, Pakistan and other Muslim countries have allowed the Western colonialist states to dominate us with their values and beliefs, as well as the laws they demand are implemented. Local non-Islamic culture adds to the mess, where pre-Islamic traditions are presented as Islamic to placate people’s religious instincts. This ugly mixture has not managed to protect women so far, so why do we continue to patchwork with it? The rich and powerful flourish under the secular system, where privilege protects them. For women, the power that men of any social class wield over them means that women are most often the victims.

The attacks we are witnessing show that if we really want to solve the problem, we need a comprehensive change. We need to understand that the problems that exist in society will only be solved once a society is established that has beliefs, values and laws according to a correct origin. The establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) State alone will bring a complete change. In the Islamic State, Islamic laws work together on the premise that crime should be prevented, whilst punishment acts as both deterrent and justice.

Crime is prevented through building personalities who understand that they are accountable to Allah (swt) for every single action which they do. Crime is also prevented through a desire to please Allah (swt) by acting on the Halaal (permitted), whilst avoiding the Haram (prohibited). The Islamic education system and media will ensure these ideas are built, so that both men and women understand and act upon the ideas which Islam has given us. The Muslim woman in Islam is an honor that must be protected. This understanding led the Khaleefah Mutasim to send an army to defend the Muslims, after a single Muslim women called out to him, after being attacked by the Romans.

Men and women will also understand the need to obey the laws which have been put in place to solve human problems. However to work effectively, all the laws must be in place. Women are protected by all the Islamic laws related to them. Islam limits the interaction between men and women to that which is necessary. Islam forbids a man and a woman who are not related to be in seclusion (khulwa), alone, with each other. Such laws are two amongst many others, which require the establishment of the Islamic State for their true impact to be felt. While some may scoff at some of these laws as being oppressive to women, this ignores the fact that laws are indeed put in place to prevent situations where crime can occur.

After the #MeToo movement exposed powerful corrupt men, Wall Street modified conduct towards women to avoid seclusion and more. Across Wall Street, men clamored to adopt strategies to safeguard themselves and their reputation. Several hedge funds, law firms, banks, private equity firms and investment-management firms adopted policies such as refusing business dinners with women below 35, refusing to sit next to female colleagues on planes, booking hotel rooms on different floors, avoiding one-on-one meetings and refusing to meet female employees in rooms without windows.

In an Islamic society, the Islamic values dominate, and unlike in secular societies, men’s view of women will become radically different. They will understand that their mothers, daughter, wives, female relatives, as well as the unrelated women, have all been placed in a position of honor and trust for them.

However, the problems we see will not be solved unless society is completely changed and only established on Islam. Through the Khilafah the ideas of Islam will be spread, whilst the justice of Islam will prevail. Then women can once again return to safety and security in all the roles we undertake; wives, mothers, daughters, teachers, doctors, businesswomen, judges, scientists, Islamic scholars and more.

Allah (swt) said,

(وَالۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ وَالۡمُؤۡمِنٰتُ بَعۡضُهُمۡ اَوۡلِيَآءُ بَعۡضٍۘ يَاۡمُرُوۡنَ بِالۡمَعۡرُوۡفِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ الۡمُنۡكَرِ وَيُقِيۡمُوۡنَ الصَّلٰوةَ وَيُؤۡتُوۡنَ الزَّكٰوةَ وَيُطِيۡعُوۡنَ اللّٰهَ وَرَسُوۡلَهٗؕ اُولٰۤٮِٕكَ سَيَرۡحَمُهُمُ اللّٰهُؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَزِيۡزٌ حَكِيۡمٌ)

“The believers, both men and women, are guardians of one another. They encourage good and forbid evil, establish prayer and pay alms-tax, and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is they who will be shown Allah’s mercy. Surely Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.” [TMQ Surah at-Tawba 9:71].

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Nur Iqbal – Wilayah Pakistan